WHY DOES PAKATAN PREFER BN TO PSM’S DR KUMAR AT SG SIPUT?

Press statement by Kua Kia Soong, 3 May 2018

From the tears after the disqualification of Pakatan candidates at the nominations last week, there were regrets that Pakatan had conceded some seats even before election day. But is Pakatan serious about ensuring the defeat of the BN and the installation of a better people centred government with good peoples’ representatives? I wonder…

Dr Kumar of PSM has been the Sg Siput Member of Parliament since 2008 and has won plaudits from many quarters as the model “peoples’ representative” in the Malaysian parliament who consistently raises national issues of development, issues affecting the peoples’ welfare as well as proposing solutions to these problems.

One would think that if Pakatan Harapan was seriously interested in winning GE14 at the national level, Sg Siput would be a safe deposit for the Opposition. But no, Pakatan has seen fit to put up a candidate to split the vote that will inevitably lead to a BN victory. Samy Vellu’s toupee must have danced to his chuckles after the recent nominations.

Who is this PH candidate, Kesavan Subramaniam who is supposed to be a better representative for Sg Siput than Dr Kumar? Even if the Pakatan hacks have no objection to this blatant sabotage of the Opposition chances in this GE14, what does civil society think about this shocking concession to BN by sacrificing Dr Kumar? Those who have been breast-beating about the time for change must have some opinion about this shameful concession of a valuable seat in Sg Siput to BN!

Somehow, I don’t think defeating the BN is the prime concern of Pakatan. Could it be that they are prepared to sacrifice the seat to BN in order to ensure there is no PSM member of parliament to challenge their neo-liberal policies, raise rakyat centred issues and socialist solutions that go beyond harping on about the scandals of the ruling coalition? Or perhaps PH MPs don’t like to be compared to Kumar as they feel their performance as parliamentarians can never measure up to his high standards?

And Sg Siput is not the only seat Pakatan Harapan are sacrificing in this election. They have likewise put up candidates in all the seats in which other PSM leaders are standing, for example, against Arul in Semenyih. Now, is Bakhtiar Mohd Nor of Parti Pribumi considered a better candidate than Arul for Semenyih? Really?

I would be interested to hear some response from civil society leaders who have been asking the Malaysian people to vote for change. They must have an opinion about candidates in Sg Siput and in Semenyih to raise but two examples. PSM candidates are challenged in all the seats they stand by PH.

As for the supposed veteran politicians who have been posturing about tsunamis in GE14, any amateur can tell you that in this election compared to all the elections since 1986, the expulsion of PAS from the Opposition coalition can only spell better fortune for BN. Don’t they know?